Developing and Publishing High-Quality Electronic Documents on CD-ROM

Abstract

Electronic publishing is the enterprise of producing content in electronic form that can be delivered by electronic media. These notes explore the opportunities and challenges in this kind of publishing and help the reader evaluate the different kinds of approaches that may be taken in this area. The fundamental questions for electronic publication production are the formats for content components, the tools for producing content in these formats, the authoring tools for integrating these components and for presenting the material to the audience, and the media used for delivering the The common theme that runs through all this integrated content to the audience. material is that the editorial content and the needs of the reader must come first, and the publisher must choose the publication process that fits the needs of the content and reader. Thus we will find that the publisher may sometimes publish on paper, sometimes on the Web, sometimes on CD-ROM, and sometimes on a blend of two or more of these,. The publisher may sometimes publish with one authoring system and sometimes with another. The key is to know the content and the audience well enough to provide the best way of reaching any particular audience with any particular content. Electronic publications are quite new and many people are uncomfortable with the notion of publishing in this way. However, electronic publications have become much more capable in the last year or two and are now at a point where they can begin to displace or complement paper publications for many areas. Technical publication is probably the area that offers the greatest promise for this change. Persons within the technical community are among the most likely to have access to the tools needed to read and use electronic publications, and are among those most likely to be comfortable with this new way of thinking about Like any other area of publishing, electronic communication. publishing must be built on a solid editorial base. This base ensures consistent content quality and focus, and is key to creating value for the audience. However, content that is published in each medium (print, sound, video, film, etc.) tends to have its own editorial nature, while electronic publishing can contain and integrate all these media, so the editorial task for electronic publications is probably more challenging than for each individual medium.